WPP

WPP is "one of the world's leading communications services group, providing national, multi-national and global clients with advertising; media investment management; information & consultancy; public relations & public affairs; branding & identity; healthcare; and specialist communications. WPP's major brands include advertising agencies J. Walter Thompson Company, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, Young & Rubicam and Red Cell; the global media investment management companies MindShare, Mediaedge:cia; market research companies Millward Brown, Research International, Kantar Media Research; the direct customer relationship and interactive marketing networks OgilvyOne Worldwide and Wunderman; public relations & public affairs firms Hill and Knowlton, Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, Burson-Marsteller and Cohn & Wolfe." 

In October 2005, WPP announced that revenues for the third quarter, including acquisitions, had risen by 24% to £1.3bn []

Revenue
"WPP Group, parent of international public relations firms Burson-Marsteller, Cohn & Wolfe, Hill & Knowlton and Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, reported growth in its public relations operations of close to 14 percent in the first half of 2008, providing further evidence that the public relations sector has been surprisingly resilient despite the troubled global economy," reported the Holmes Report in August 2008.

"Public relations now accounts for 10.8 percent of total group revenue, or £360 million. ... The group attributed PR's strong performance to 'the positive impact on the sector’s growth of fact-based polling techniques and social networking on the web, which demonstrates the increased effectiveness of editorial publicity over paid for publicity.'"

Management

 * Philip Lader, Non-executive Chairman
 * Sir Martin Sorrell, Chief Executive
 * Paul Richardson, Finance Director
 * Beth Axelrod, Chief Talent Officer
 * Howard Paster, Director
 * Jeremy Bullmore, Non-executive Director
 * Esther Dyson, Non-executive Director
 * Orit Gadiesh, Non-executive Director
 * John Jackson, Non-executive Director
 * Christopher Mackenzie, Non-executive Director
 * Stanley Morten, Non-executive Director
 * Koichiro Naganuma, Non-executive director
 * John Quelch, Non-executive Director
 * Paul Spencer, Non-executive Director

Contact information
Website: http://www.wpp.com

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Burson-Marsteller
 * Civitas Group, LLC
 * Cohn & Wolfe
 * Hill & Knowlton
 * Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide
 * Public Strategies, Inc.

External articles

 * Press Release WPP Group PLC WPP acquires leading US strategic research and polling consultancy, Penn, Schoen and Berland, November 16, 2001
 * Sharon Beder and Richard Gosden, "WPP: World Propaganda Power", PR Watch, Volume 8 Number 2, 2nd Quarter 2001.
 * Hamilton Nolan, "WPP calls GCI 'an important addition' after confirming Grey buy", PR Week, September 20, 2004.
 * Julie Bosman, "WPP Executive Resigns Over Remarks on Women", New York Times, October 21, 2005.
 * Paul McIntyre, "Creative malaise riles Britain's adland genius", Sydney Morning Herald, October 31, 2005.
 * Joanne Oatts, "WPP acquires US firm Public Strategies", Brand Republic, August 1, 2006.
 * Louise Story, "WPP Group to Buy 24/7 Real Media, an Online Ad Company," New York Times, May 18, 2007.